Meditation Gone Wrong

[Tad]

Some form of meditation is a key element in any serious spiritual practice. Meditation has many benefits from healing the mind to insights. However, quite a while ago I remember reading an article about certain individuals who shared personal stories of meditation gone wrong. In short, they ended up in mental health institutions due to developing serious psychosis or nervous break down.

What do you think might be the causes of such incidents and what they might have done wrong in their practice?

If remember correctly, the people mentioned in the article were not advanced meditators but also not completely brand new.

[Jean]

Indeed, there are instances where intense or improper meditation practices have led to negative mental health outcomes, such as psychosis or nervous breakdowns. While these cases are relatively rare, they are important to consider.

Here are some potential causes and factors that might contribute to such incidents:

   1.   Pre-existing Mental Health Conditions: Individuals with a history of mental health issues, such as psychosis or severe anxiety, might be more susceptible to adverse effects from meditation. In some cases, meditation can exacerbate symptoms or trigger latent conditions.
   2.   Intense Practice: Engaging in long, intense periods of meditation without proper guidance or preparation can overwhelm the mind. This could lead to disorientation, heightened anxiety, or a loss of touch with reality.
   3.   Inadequate Support: Practicing meditation without the support of an experienced teacher or a supportive community can lead to misinterpretation of experiences and feelings that arise during meditation, leading to confusion and potential distress.
   4.   Spiritual Crisis/aka "dark night of the soul," individuals may encounter profound existential or spiritual challenges that they are not equipped to handle, leading to psychological distress.
   5.   Unresolved Trauma: Meditation can bring to the surface unresolved emotional issues or past traumas. Without proper support and coping mechanisms, this can be overwhelming and lead to a mental health crisis.
   6.   Inappropriate Expectations: Individuals may enter meditation with unrealistic expectations for quick enlightenment or immediate relief from suffering, leading to frustration, disillusionment, or risky behaviors in an attempt to force progress.
   7.   Mistaking Psychosis for Spiritual Experience: Some might misinterpret the symptoms of a developing psychosis as spiritual or mystical experiences, which can delay seeking necessary medical treatment.
        8.     Substance abuse/Psychotrops/Drugs: Taking such substances might alter their equilibrium and lead to a breakdown or open the gates without being ready and prepared to go through this process, getting their past-life demon reaching out in this lifetime and messing up with them.


To mitigate these risks, here are some guidelines that might be helpful :

   •   Professional Guidance: Seek out experienced teachers or meditation communities for proper instruction and support, especially when beginning or deepening practice.
   •   Gradual Approach: Start with shorter sessions and gradually increase the duration of meditation as comfort with the practice grows.
   •   Mindful Awareness: Be aware of your mental state and any discomfort that arises during meditation; don't push through severe distress.
   •   Balance: Maintain a balanced lifestyle that includes social interaction, physical activity, and other forms of self-care.
   •   Therapeutic Support: For those with pre-existing mental health conditions or past traumas, it's important to work with mental health professionals alongside meditation practice.
   •   Education: Educate yourself on the potential pitfalls of meditation and the signs of psychological distress to better distinguish between normal discomfort and more serious issues.

[Jhanananda]

Thank you, Tad, for posting your inquiry, and thank you, Jean, for your reply to this thread. Please note that I moved this thread to Unpacking Religion, because we have discussed this topic numerous times here, and most of the content belongs here, because most of the claims of psychosis induced meditation is mostly due to incorrect conclusions on the part of meditation teachers, who almost never understand the 8 stages of samma-samadhi, and psychiatry, which has a long history beginning with Freud dismissing mystics as psychotic. In most cases those who begin to experience depth in meditation typically have these experiences at meditation retreats which are typically lead by meditation teachers who have no experience or training in understanding the 8 stages of samma-samadhi, consequently they are frequently referred to a psychiatrist who has no reference for the 8 stages of samma-samadhi. You will find content directly on this topic on these threads:

Goenka
unpacking psychology and psychiatry
Hypocrisy in the Catholic Church and Zen Buddhism
Demonizing of mystics
Unpacking Jhana in Theravadan Buddhism
Witch-Hunt

[Tad]

Jhananda,

I actually remember reading the old posts that you shared. They do touch on this topic, but I wanted to examine it a little more. I was able to find the article that I had in mind when I started this discussion. It can be found here:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/vbaedd/meditation-is-a-powerful-mental-tool-and-for-some-it-goes-terribly-wrong

I think Jean made a perfect summary of possible causes. I re-read the article and it does seem like many of the people interviewed had some sort of re-surfacing of past trauma and some got terrified by the sense of dissolving self.

I remember reading in one of the Jhananda's articles on GWV about some people experiencing panic after doing too much vipassana style meditation and not enough samatha. I think that might be a factor too for some people. Cause samatha meditation provides tranquility necessary to face the deep fears hidden in our subconsciouss mind.

[Jhanananda]

Jhananda,

I actually remember reading the old posts that you shared. They do touch on this topic, but I wanted to examine it a little more. I was able to find the article that I had in mind when I started this discussion. It can be found here:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/vbaedd/meditation-is-a-powerful-mental-tool-and-for-some-it-goes-terribly-wrong

Thank you, Tad for pursuing this line of inquiry. More than anything I find the basic thread of the logic of Siddhartha Gautama is really the most genius description of the cause of suffering and a solution to it. So let us review it and see if it answers the inquiry in the article.

The Four Noble Truths

Suffering exists, is a reality check for us, to admit to ourselves that the material world is essentially a cruel, hellish domain where no matter how rich or poor or famous or infamous we are, we are going to experience suffering.

There is a cause to our suffering, and that cause is our craving and covetousness for the material world.

There is a path that leads out of this hellish domain. It is the Noble Eightfold Path.

Most significantly I keep harping on that fact that no Buddhist teacher, or lay meditation teacher, understands the Noble Eightfold Path when they believe and teach that the 8th fold is concentration, which is often interpreted as 'shamata' or 'samatha'. This is a complete corruption of the Noble Eightfold Path, and it is the core of my teaching and the focus of this forum. Consequently the whole reason why the practice of meditation goes "bad" for some people is they do not understand that the practice of meditation is not an end in itself but part of the 7 folds that lead to the bliss, joy and ecstasy of the 8 stages of the 8th fold which is called 'samma-samadhi' in the Pali Canon.

I think Jean made a perfect summary of possible causes. I re-read the article and it does seem like many of the people interviewed had some sort of re-surfacing of past trauma and some got terrified by the sense of dissolving self.

Yes, past traumas resurface during deep meditation, and the self can dissolve as we negotiate the 8 stages of samma-samadhi, but when we have 99.999% of the people who teach meditation have no experience or understanding of the 8 stages of samma-samadhi, then all we have is the blind leading the blind.

I remember reading in one of the Jhananda's articles on GWV about some people experiencing panic after doing too much vipassana style meditation and not enough samatha. I think that might be a factor too for some people. Cause samatha meditation provides tranquility necessary to face the deep fears hidden in our subconsciouss mind.

And, back to erroneous philosophies that pervade Buddhism today. There is no place in the Pali Canon where this concept of a dualistic meditation strategy is presented. It is a bogus methodology pervasively propagandized within the 3 vehicles of Buddhism that only serves to prove just how corrupt Buddhism has become in the 2600 years since Siddhartha Gautama first taught his Noble Eightfold Path. There are 4 major discourses in the Pali Canon on the practice of meditation. Not a single one of these discourses use this terminology. That should prove to anyone capable of critical thinking that Buddhism has been corrupted by it corrupt priesthood for about 2000 years.

[Tad]

Jhananda,

Good points. Even purist Thanissaro translates samadhi as concentration, which might mislead some people.

[Jhanananda]

Jhananda,

Good points. Even purist Thanissaro translates samadhi as concentration, which might mislead some people.

We just have to conclude anyone who translates or interprets samma-samadhi as 'concentration' has surely never experienced it, when the definition of the 8th fold is in ecstatic terms, such as: bliss, joy, ecstasy and/or rapture. This says for the most part the Buddhist priesthood have been putting on the robes and pretending for thousands of years.

[rougeleader115]

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/31/1241784635/meditation-vipassana-dangerous-mental-health

I just came across this recent article and wanted to share it. Please express your thoughts if you care to. There are a lot of obvious misunderstandings on practice here.

Rougeleader

[Michael Hawkins]

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/31/1241784635/meditation-vipassana-dangerous-mental-health

I just came across this recent article and wanted to share it. Please express your thoughts if you care to. There are a lot of obvious misunderstandings on practice here.

Rougeleader

Hello Rougeleader.  I just read the article.  As soon as I saw the name "Goenka," I thought, "Well of course people are having horrible experiences."  I don't think they're actually practicing Buddhist meditation, they're not working skillfully with what the Buddha actually taught.  The whole environment at a Goenka retreat, from what I understand, is authoritarian, rigid and punitive - I know that Jeffrey was kicked out of one because his body was swaying with the self-arising charisms, and I've talked with others who have also been asked to leave for infringing on one rule or another.  Vipassana is a recent invention (the article mentions that Goenka started his "cult" in the 70's), which turns the 8th Fold into a mental gymnasium instead of the beautiful arising of bliss, joy and ecstasy that the Buddha actually taught.  It doesn't surprise me that some poor souls are led to suicide and psychological torture as a result of attending these retreats.

[Jhanananda]

Thank you, Rougeleader and Michael for posting your link and comments to this thread.  The question is i my mind, will negative articles revealing the deep flaws in Goenka style meditation, and the deeply flawed interpretation of the Pali Canon in Theravadan Buddhism ever make a change in the contemplative arts and how Buddhism is understood? After 50 years of following the Noble Eightfold Path and studying its deeply flawed translations and interpretations I seriously doubt that there will be any change at all other than some of the frauds, such as Goenka, might be forgotten, but new frauds will surely take their place.